Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base
Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years — official Microsoft statements show hints of a shrinking user base
Microsoft says it still has 1.4 billion monthly active users (Updated)
Microsoft EVP Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post last week that Windows powers over a billion active devices globally. This might sound like a healthy number, but according to ZDNET, the Microsoft annual report for 2022 said that more than 1.4 billion devices were running Windows 10 or 11. Given that these documents contain material information and have allegedly been pored over by the tech giant’s lawyers, we can safely assume that Windows’ user base has been quietly shrinking in the past three years, shedding around 400 million users.
This is probably why Microsoft has been aggressively pushing users to upgrade to Windows 11 after the previous version of the OS loses support — so that its users would install the latest version of Windows on their current system (or get a new PC if their system is incapable of running the latest version). Although macOS is a threat to Windows, especially with the launch of Apple Silicon, we cannot say that those 400 million users all went and bought a MacBook. That’s because, as far back as 2023, Mac sales have also been dropping, with Statista reporting the computer line, once holding more than 85% of the company revenue, now making up just 7.7%.
I think it's mainly because the entire PC market is shrinking. Most people use phones and tablets these days and those don't come with Windows.
Gaming and corporate software are the last strongholds, but mobile gaming keeps growing and I see more and more people using tablets for office work. Especially when companies keep moving more of their core applications to the cloud with web/app interfaces.
I see that, too. Always makes me feel like a boomer (despite being in the wrong age group to be one), because I like my computer for the hundred and something keys which fit snuggly underneath all fingers, the separate keys for brackets and umlauts and numbers. And that I can open and operate like 3 programs next to each other while doing work. Somehow people younger than me(?) do it very differently.
(Plus I can install an operating system I really like on my computer.)
I'm forced to use windows for work and I absolutely loathe it. I'd rather go home and use my mac than deal with all the bloat, ads and nonsense. I just find it insufferable.
lol corporate isn't a stronghold. It's a big part were the erosion is coming from. So many businesses don't need x86 and windows any more. Low power arm is the current hotness and ai is an expensive joke
That sounds horrible
I think it's both. People who've never before really considered using Linux have started migrating off of Windows ever since the end of service announcement for Win10.
Sure. But I think the total number of desktop Linux users is a two digit millions number. So those few millions we've attracted lately are more a decimal point when talking about 400 million. They're there and part of the picture, though.
That's most likely it. Most of the world is running on a smartphone.
and people love to work on Macs because its more convenient than windows when they are programming too.
I'm seeing that a lot with traffic. It's been a steady tick up on mobile and a steady downward for PCs in general. People just use their phones for more things now. And I don't see that trend changing. Including this comment.
Source: web dev with a site that helps maintain a pretty big corporate site.
This is a great example of people taking sides and not seeing past their own noses about it.
Also of not reading past the headline, but whatever.
If I have to choose between the janky but unlocked environment of Windows and a world of iOS and Googlified Android users I'd pick Windowsland in a heartbeat.
We need a better integrated device open alternative, and fast.
I'm sorry, I don't really get it. What sides? And who didn't read the article? That's their main conclusion as well. Plus they add some fluff before and after. But that's not really important. Could you maybe explain what an "device open alternative" is? I don't know that term. And it's kind of hard to find anything just by googling "device open".